mission, mandate & principles
our mISSION
VideoCabaret creates politically incisive, formally adventurous Canadian theatre, and has done so from Toronto for fifty years. We put design at the centre of creation — design not as decoration but as dramaturgy, an equal partner to writing and performance in telling the story. We make work that interrogates national mythologies, political structures, and media culture.
Who makes that work is now the question that matters most. Culture cannot be separated from the environment in which it is created, and this city has changed. The people who are the culture will make the culture: a curated consortium of companies and artists reflecting the fabric of Toronto, working in a machine that reflects its environment.
Renewal is not a chapter in our history. It is the work we have taken on — and it starts now
Â
our mandate
We interrogate national mythologies, political structures, and media culture — and design is how we do it. Our theatre is built through deep exchange between writers, performers, designers, and technicians: rigorous, collaborative, formally adventurous, politically awake, and alive to the ways culture connects us
VideoCabaret respects and upholds the Haudenosaunee teaching of peace, friendship, and respect between sovereign nations. The Two Row Wampum (Guswenta or Teioháte Kaswenta) symbolizes two parallel paths—a canoe and a ship—traveling down the river of life together, side-by-side, without interfering in each other’s laws, cultures, or governance
​
Additionally, we work to uphold and enact the shared principles of the Anishinaabe known as The Seven Grandfather Teachings; a set of Anishinaabe guiding principles passed down from generation to generation to guide the Anishinaabe in living a good life in peace and without conflict.Â
​
Debwewin / Truth: To speak only to the extent, we have lived or experienced.Â
Dabasendiziwin / Humility: To think lower of oneself in relation to all that sustains us.
Manaaji’idiwin / Respect: To go easy on one another and all of Creation.Â
Zaagi’idiwin / Love: Unconditional love between one another including all of Creation, humans and non-humans.
Gwayakwaadiziwin / Honesty: To live correctly and with virtue.Â
Zoongide’ewin / Courage: To live with a solid, strong heart.Â
Nibwaakaawin / Wisdom: To live with vision.Â